HARTFORD, CT – State Senator Christine Cohen (D-Guilford) today joined in the bipartisan Senate passage of a two-year state budget that includes a historic middle-class personal income tax cut while simultaneously providing towns more money for local schools as well as funding much-needed state social service programs.
The $51.1 billion biennial state budget for July 2023-June 2025 passed the Senate today on a bipartisan vote of 35-1. The new state budget includes a total of $612 million in personal income and pension tax cuts while providing $300 million more in state aid to local school districts and hundreds of millions more for nonprofits to pay their employees higher wages.
“This budget is the product of months long negotiations and contains big wins for our district and our state. We are prioritizing our children by fully funding the ECS formula and expanding free school meals,” said Sen. Cohen. “We are providing historic tax cuts and exemptions and we did it all with a balanced budget that maintains our fiscal safeguards and continues to pay down our debts. There are some proposals I will continue to work for, like restoring the pass-through entity tax, increasing transportation options and municipal aid for costly PFAS testing and remediation – but I’m certainly proud of this bipartisan budget.”
Branford will receive an additional $1.3 million in state Education Cost Sharing (ECS) grants over the next two years compared to what they are receiving now, and over $2 million in other state aid such as Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT), Local Capital Improvements (LOCIP), and Town Aid Roads (TAR).
Durham will receive an additional $110,827 in state Education Cost Sharing (ECS) grants over the next two years compared to what they are receiving now, and another $822,250 in other state aid such as Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT), Local Capital Improvements (LOCIP), and Town Aid Roads (TAR).
East Haven will receive an additional $25,306 in state Education Cost Sharing (ECS) grants over the next two years compared to what they are receiving now, and over $2.2 million in other state aid such as Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT), Local Capital Improvements (LOCIP), and Town Aid Roads (TAR).
Guilford will continue to receive over $3.5 million in state Education Cost Sharing (ECS) grants over the next two years and will receive over $1.3 million in other state aid such as Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT), Local Capital Improvements (LOCIP), and Town Aid Roads (TAR).
Killingworth will receive an additional $220,487 in state Education Cost Sharing (ECS) grants over the next two years compared to what they are receiving now, and another $713,118 in other state aid such as Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT), Local Capital Improvements (LOCIP), and Town Aid Roads (TAR).
Madison will continue to receive nearly $791,000 in state Education Cost Sharing (ECS) grants over the next two years and over $5.6 million in other state aid such as Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT), Local Capital Improvements (LOCIP), and Town Aid Roads (TAR).
Middlefield will receive an additional $230,601 in state Education Cost Sharing (ECS) grants over the next two years compared to what they are receiving now, and over $960,000 in other state aid such as Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT), Local Capital Improvements (LOCIP), and Town Aid Roads (TAR).
North Branford will continue to receive $14.6 million in state Education Cost Sharing (ECS) grants over the next two years compared to what they are receiving now, and another $1.3 million in other state aid such as Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT), Local Capital Improvements (LOCIP), and Town Aid Roads (TAR). Additionally, North Branford will receive $500,000 for the North Branford Family Resource Center.